1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates, generally, to apparatuses that facilitate dissection of an experimental animal. More specifically, it relates to rodent-stabilizing dissection devices.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
Rodents, and in particular mice, are by far the most widely used animals in biomedical research. The speed at which the dissection of mice is performed can make or break the results of the animal experiments in basic research.
Securing the hands and feet of an anesthetized and/or euthanized rodent on a dissection board by tapes or pins is the most widely adopted method for facilitating survival or non-survival rodent surgery and postmortem sample collection (see FIG. 1). However, this securing step takes a particular amount of time and is tedious. Not only is taping/pinning the limbs time-consuming, but removing the tapes/pins from the board after each dissection is also time-consuming. Even a small delay in this securing step can compromise the integrity and reproducibility of animal experiments or even ruin the entire research projects, especially when (i) a large number of rodents need to be dissected in a relatively short time period (e.g., after each rodent dissection is done, the dissector has to remove all the pins and tapes to clean up the board and prepare for the next one); (ii) the biological samples to be collected degrade quickly after anesthesia and/or euthanasia; (iii) time-sensitive procedures such as blood collection or vascular perfusion are to be performed; and/or (iv) the conditions of the animal to be dissected worsen every second and minute due to the preceding treatments.
In particular, the quality of biological samples-especially unstable components such as mRNA, protein, cytokine, and hormone-worsen every second. The levels of mRNAs, cytokines, other physiologically active substances, and/or the histopathological manifestation of each organ are easily affected by the dramatic hemodynamic alterations caused by anesthesia and/or method of euthanasia. Thus, expediting rodent dissection is a critical shortcut to a successful animal experiment. FIG. 2 depicts the general timeline between euthanasia and sample collection, showing that the time period should be as short as possible to preserve samples that may quickly degrade (e.g., RNA, cytokines, heart tissue) and to uphold statuses that quickly change (e.g., cell viability, inflammation in organs, and necrosis of organs).
Further, if the rodent to be dissected is not securely immobilized, a situation may well arise where every time the dissector grabs/pulls/cuts the skin or organs of the rodent on the dissection board, the body of the rodent passively moves. This movement inevitably causes a disturbance for the dissector and can even provoke such a mishandling by the dissector irreparable sample damage results.
Attempts have been made to stabilize experimental animals during dissection. Examples include, but are not limited to, Chinese Publication No. CN 201734800 U; U.S. Pat. No. 2,987,042; U.S. Pat. No. 3,130,709; U.S. Pat. No. 3,286,694; U.S. Pat. No. 4,261,295; U.S. Pat. No. 6,675,741; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,789,510. However, the conventional art, including the forgoing references, is still excessively time-consuming and does not provide the appropriate immobilization needed for dissection.
Accordingly, what is needed is a dissection device that provides rapid but sufficient immobilization of the experimental rodents, thereby (i) accelerating surgical procedures and sample collection and (ii) helping to preserve and maintain accurate experimental conditions and results. However, in view of the art considered as a whole at the time the present invention was made, it was not obvious to those of ordinary skill in the field of this invention how the shortcomings of the prior art could be overcome.
All referenced publications are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. Furthermore, where a definition or use of a term in a reference, which is incorporated by reference herein, is inconsistent or contrary to the definition of that term provided herein, the definition of that term provided herein applies and the definition of that term in the reference does not apply.
While certain aspects of conventional technologies have been discussed to facilitate disclosure of the invention, Applicants in no way disclaim these technical aspects, and it is contemplated that the claimed invention may encompass one or more of the conventional technical aspects discussed herein.
The present invention may address one or more of the problems and deficiencies of the prior art discussed above. However, it is contemplated that the invention may prove useful in addressing other problems and deficiencies in a number of technical areas. Therefore, the claimed invention should not necessarily be construed as limited to addressing any of the particular problems or deficiencies discussed herein.
In this specification, where a document, act or item of knowledge is referred to or discussed, this reference or discussion is not an admission that the document, act or item of knowledge or any combination thereof was at the priority date, publicly available, known to the public, part of common general knowledge, or otherwise constitutes prior art under the applicable statutory provisions; or is known to be relevant to an attempt to solve any problem with which this specification is concerned.